The Netherlands

The Netherlands is a tiny country. In spite of this, it houses many of the big players in the theme park industry. Perhaps the best known park is Efteling, widely known as one of the best themed parks not only in Europe, but the world. Efteling opened in 1952 and has always been known for great atmosphere and incredible attention to detail in regards to their ride presentations. Last year they surprised the industry with the addition of “Baron 1898”, an incredibly well themed B&M Dive Coaster. The next biggest park in the Netherlands opened in 1971 as “Flevohof”, however after many name changes we nowadays know the park as “Walibi Holland” who (rather contentiously) in the past branded themselves as “The roller coaster capital of Europe.” It features, among others, a great Intamin hyper-lite coaster, “Goliath,” as well as the world’s first Vekoma SLC, “Condor”.

Efteling and Walibi Holland are not the only parks situated in The Netherlands. Along with England, it is probably a country with one of the highest amusement park densities in the world. (as well as the highest coaster density of any country on the planet!). It features many small parks, which are also worth a visit! Think of “Attractiepark Slagharen”, “Toverland” and “Hellendoorn”.

One of the key elements among Dutch parks is the experience and theming. Therefore, it’s not surprising that a big player in park theming is situated in this country, namely P&P Projects. They are well known for completing various projects for Disney Imagineering; namely the Walt Disney Fantasy Parade and the Cinema Parade. They also manufacture theming for many other theme parks, e.g. “Van Helsing’s Factory” in Movie Park (Germany), as well as theming for all other kinds of leisure attractions too.

Speaking of Disney, the Netherlands is also the home of Vekoma – who are widely known for manufacturing almost all the Disney roller coasters, as well as their Suspended Looping Coaster models which can be found in parks worldwide. Another upcoming, but already well known company is ETF Ride Systems, who are known for making small people movers to use in, for instance, dark rides.

In summary, the Netherlands is most certainly a country that one must visit on a trip to Europe. As well as containing a number of high quality coasters (Goliath, Walibi Holland, Baron 1898, Efteling), the country is also home to some of the best theming in the world.